Wonders of nature on display in Cambridge

Jody Feinberg

Monday

Feb 23, 2009 at 12:01 AMFeb 23, 2009 at 10:17 PM

See the wonder of the natural world in exhibits of photographs, glass and specimens at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

An elephant bird would seem to be a creation of Dr. Seuss’ imagination, until you see its enormous egg at the Museum of Natural History in Cambridge. It’s the largest known egg, 15 times larger than an ostrich egg, laid by an 11-foot tall Madagascar bird that became extinct around 1700. But what impresses most is that such a fragile object has survived, along with tens of thousands of other specimens of animals, birds, insects, minerals and plants that fill the galleries of this museum owned by Harvard University.

As people around the world celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of his groundbreaking "On the Origin of the Species,'' the natural history museum is a place for visitors to share Darwin’s fascination and observe the impact of natural selection.

"The museum displays close to 4.5 billion years of Earth history,'' said Blue Magruder, the museum’s director of communications and marketing. "There’s no better place in Boston to explore evolution.''

In advance of its Darwin exhibit in April, the museum has the Darwin Discovery Trail, which takes visitors to some of the creatures Darwin wrote about. The trail starts in the temporary exhibit "Language of Color,'' where displays of New Guinea birds of paradise reveal the colorful plumage of males. It’s natural selection at work over thousands of generations as females selected the most colorful males as mates.

In "Language of Color,'' visitors learn how colors are formed and how they communicate different things. There are hopping bright blue dart-poison frogs to complement a variety of specimens, such as the Scarlet ibis, Blue Morpho butterflies and multi-colored Cuban land snails. All have beautiful colors to communicate stay away or come near, express emotions like fear, or signal to a female that the male is healthy and fit. Large wall photographs, videos and well-written text help visitors understand color.

The exhibit also reflects the museum’s intent to help visitors see the connections in the natural world. The first step occurred in 1998, when Harvard created the natural history museum by merging its Museum of Comparative Zoology, Mineral and Geological Museum and the Harvard University Herbaria.

"We’re trying to pull from all sides and do the interpretations we don’t have in the galleries,'' Magruder said. "We want to become New England’s natural history museum, because we’re a wonderful resource.''

Two other temporary exhibits complement "Language of Color.'' In "Egg & Nest: Photographs by Rosamond Purcell'' and "Sea Creatures in Glass,'' artists have turned their attention to the natural world.

The photographs by Purcell, who lives in Somerville, reveal the beauty and diversity of specimens she found in the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in California. In a photo of an elephant bird egg, its size is emphasized by its juxtaposition with a tiny hummingbird egg. The glossy blue and green tinamou eggs look like gems. Especially interesting are the three photographs of murre eggs, white with black squiggles, each marking unique to that egg. The eggs are shown as a group in an egg case, as a solo object and as a flat surface, evocative of a modern art painting.

The glass sea creatures – invertebrates such as anemones, sea squirts and cucumbers – are such complete representations that it’s hard to believe they’re not real. Renowned 19th-century glass artists Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka of Germany created them as models for scientists at Harvard. While the Blaschka glass flowers are known worldwide, the sea creatures have rarely been exhibited since Harvard acquired them in 1878. In the exhibit, a recreation of a work table and a video tell the story of the Blaschkas. Today, these glass creatures created for academic study are admired for their beauty.

"When photography developed, the glass fell out of fashion as models for study,'' Magruder said. "But they became discovered as art.''

The Harvard Museum of Natural History is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 26 Oxford St., Cambridge. "Language of Color'' runs through Sept. 6, "Egg & Nest'' runs through March 15, and "Glass Flowers'' runs through March 1. Admission is $9 adults, $7 seniors and $6 ages 3-18. Special events: Bugfest Family Festival, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 14. Harvard faculty lecture on evolution at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 and March 5. For more information, call 617-495-3045 or go to www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

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